Gunners outline pre-season plans

Arsenal have announced a programme of pre-season friendlies ahead of next season.

The players will return to pre-season training in early July and will begin with the traditional curtain-raiser against Barnet at Underhill on 14 July.

They will then travel to Austria to face Turkish side Bad Waltersdorf and Austrian team FC Red Bull Salzburg before hosting the inaugural Emirates Cup and taking part in the Amsterdam Tournament in August.

The average Premier League footballer will earn around £1.1million a year next season, according to a new report.

The annual review of football finance by Deloitte also predicts the bumper new TV rights package will see the first £10million-a-year player within three seasons.

The reports shows wages last year shot up by 9 per cent in the top flight in England.

Dan Jones, partner of Deloitte's sports business group, said a 3 per cent wage fall in 2004-05 now appeared to be just a blip in the overall upward trend.

Jones said: "We do expect the average annual earnings for a Premier League player next season will be in the region of £1.1million and that over the next three years we will see English football's first player to earn £10million per annum from a club, equivalent to £200,000 per week."

The review also shows a huge gap in wages paid by Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool compared to the rest of the Premiership.